CLEVELAND — Jimmy and Dee Haslam know a thing or two about investing, considering they run three sports teams: the Browns, the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and MLS’s Columbus Crew. Keeping athletes in the game is just good business and common sense.
Now, the couple is making a $20 million gift to establish the University Hospital Haslam Sports Innovation Center. The facility will be led by Dr. James E. Booth, California State University chair of orthopedics, president-elect of the NFL Physicians Association, and head team physician for the Browns.
The new center will identify, support and invest in the world’s best innovations in sports medicine. This research could also lead to spin-off companies, as ideas that could have been inherited could be identified.
The ultimate goal is to improve performance, reduce injury risk, and promote healing in stronger and healthier professional and recreational athletes.
“Ultimately, we want these innovations to be available not only to active people, but also to people recovering from joint replacements or other types of spinal surgery.” Booth explained. ”[The question will be] Can we use the same technological advancements and wearable technology to help you recover?”
Haslam University’s Haslam Center’s collaborative approach, along with the Haslam family’s deep industry relationships and experience as investors, will accelerate progress and provide exposure to new technology and research that will lead to sports success across the country.
Voos’ innovative research includes creating a return-to-play assessment after ACL reconstruction using wearable technology. University Hospital’s Drusinski Sports Medicine Institute at Ahuja Medical Center is one of the few U.S. facilities to receive FDA approval to grow and expand stem cells for the treatment of arthritis, he said. He has led the way in regenerative medicine.
There are currently 16 patients in the Phase 1 safety trial, all of whom have shown improvement, Booth said. Results will be published in about six months, after which the trial will be opened to other people working with arthritis who could benefit from the study.
Voos and strategic partners have participated in research and developed innovations such as Collamedix, which focuses on developing collagen scaffolds to improve orthopedic surgeries such as rotator cuff repair, ACL reconstruction, and Tommy John elbow surgery. Ta. Another company is medical device designer Lazurite, whose “ArthroFree” system is the first wireless surgical camera cleared by the FDA for use in a wide range of endoscopic applications, including arthroscopy.
“We are launching the Innovation Center because we truly care about the health and safety of professional and recreational athletes,” Dee Haslam said.
As the next president of the NFL Physicians Association, Booth said his position also gives him access to ideas.
“We are in a very unique position in a leadership role within the NFL Physicians Association, where we have a great group of academic physicians across the country, all of whom are sharing ideas and bringing those ideas and new technologies to the forefront. “We can do that,” he said. .